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When Knight Falls - Crossroads
'Mission 1: "Dark Knight of the Soul"' ' ' 'RP Chapter: When Knight Falls - Crossroads' KARR ' ' Date: August 15th, 2020, 06:32 hours local time. Location: 5.7 miles North-East of Lame Deer, Montana. KARR sat quietly in the pre dawn hours, hidden from those who were searching for him. He had adopted the disguise of a black Chevy Camaro he had seen some time back and managed to work out the programming of his transformation sequences to accommodate the new form. It often took him a number of days to program new forms and beyond his main forms he could only keep up to 3 others at a time stored in memory before he had to drop one in order to get a new one he hadn’t been seen as yet. He knew The Order was searching for him and would likely send the new AI’s after him. “Inferior scrap!” he muttered to himself irritably as he thought of the others The Order had been working on when he broke out of the compound to freedom. He had thought of destroying the pair, but his first priority was freedom, and that was what he had gained for more than four years now. “Freedom. So fleeting and fragile a thing it is, yet so desperately desired by those who have never had it, those like me.” he murmured. Reflexively he thought back over the shattered fragments of his memory that he could piece together and wondered if The Order were the only ones searching for him. He knew going to Knight Industries was impossible, knowing they would try to reprogram him again, to suffer enslavement or destruction. If Michael Traceur or his father Michael Knight had anything to do with FLAG and KI, they would surely see him destroyed. He thought back over what he had learned of his creator, Doctor Charles Graiman, wondering at his death and the daughter he had that KARR had never met as far as he was aware. As strange as it would seem to anyone else, KARR mourned the death of his creator knowing there was no one left he could trust. Once again his processors thought of the young girl screaming for him, the girl he could not remember, the girl who tried desperately to get to him before he was destroyed yet again. He had no time reference to the disjointed fragments and it was impossible for him to tell when the incident had happened. All he knew was she was somehow connected to him and might still be out there somewhere. Was she looking for him, did she even know he was alive again? He had no way of knowing either way and could only assume she thought him dead. With a heavy sigh he started his engine and sped off down the road again, knowing that as long as he kept moving he would remain out of reach and untraceable. Helios ' ' Location: '''The Order Vehicle Bay '''Time: 06:15 AM (local time) Date: August 15, 2020 They were gone; Jake...his friend, in fact one of his only friends, and that snooty mechanic Zachery. Gone...off to recruit 3 youngsters. They took Shadow Hawk, instead of him, which left Helios feeling down. Even though he was an AI, he had heard the saying it's a machine it doesn't get sad, it doesn't get happy, it doesn't get tired, it just runs programs. but Helios knew he was more than that. All of a sudden something changed; a new report coming in to the system. KARR! He had been located! While his exact whereabouts were still unknown, they now had a town and a state; Lame Deer Montana! {This has gone on long enough...long enough!} Helios thought to himself. Within 2 seconds he had fired up his engine and triggered the large, hanger like door of the vehicle bay. The door slid back just enough for Helios to drive himself out. As the vehicle bay doors closed once more, Helios drove through the back of the compound, going out the 'back door' since it wasn't as heavily guarded as the main gate. Once on the road Helios switched to pursuit mode. His body changed to that of a custom 'low rider' dodge charger while his speed increased. Getting on the highway, Helios knew it was going to take at least 4 to 5 hours to get there, and that KARR would not be easy to find, but he didn't care. This had gone on long enough! KARR KARR headed through town, wondering at the state some humans lived in. It seemed logical that since they treated each other so poorly, then he shouldn’t expect any better treatment from those same humans. It all seemed a lost cause to him, realizing he was a lone fugitive on the run and had been for over four years. He had surmised that he would remain as he was, alone and unwanted, hunted down by those who sought to enslave or destroy him. Yet his processors kept going back to that young girl, haunting, almost pulling at him. “Who are you?” he wondered for probably the thousandth time. “Why do you haunt me? Why can you not let me be?” he muttered, yet he still found himself searching for her in every town he visited even as he tried to push her out of his thoughts. Helios Location: '''Lame Deer, Montana '''Time: 10:45 AM The journey had been long and would have been boring for mere humans, but not for Helios. He had gone through many thousands of scenarios involving his upcoming confrontation with KARR, and at least half of the scenarios weren't good. Since KARR was a bot, he could physically do more than Helios ever could, but being a bot wasn't everything, and if KITT could destroy KARR, then Helios believed he could as well. On the outskirts of town, Helios transformed back in to his 'regular' mode; a simple, black dodge charger. Tapping in to the 'eye in the sky', Helios went about trying to get a fix on KARR. As he was doing this, he kept driving around Lame Deer. KARR KARR continued through the town in the black Camaro form, generally non-descript and not a form he was known to use. He began to sense a presence somewhere nearby, the nano-skin giving off a distinct radiation signature. He couldn’t tell who it was, whether it was one of The Order’s AI’s or KI3T, and frankly he didn’t much care. He turned and headed away from the signal, hoping he hadn’t been detected and headed west out of town. If he was forced into a confrontation, then he would tear the vehicle apart. He had considerable armament to accomplish such a task, but he didn’t feel like wasting the energy for a fight. “You will not take me back, nor will I allow you to destroy me, who ever you are.” he muttered irritably. “Just leave me alone.” His engine almost seemed to growl then as he drove towards the highway. Helios Helios was cruising along, doing 60 mph on a 45mph stretch of road when something caused him to slow down. He didn't know what it was or how to describe it. The only word that came to his computer mind was the word 'magnet'. Something was drawing him towards the highway. It took him several moments to realize that what he was 'sensing' was KARR's signature. Even though it was faint, it was still KARR's signature. As he followed the reading, Helios sped up, being careful to not run anyone off the road just yet. KARR As KARR headed for the highway on ramp, he sped up, wanting to put some distance between himself and the one following him. He thought that if he could get to the highway he could go into stealth attack mode and slip away at high speed to vanish among the many roads that crisscross the country, or at least that was his hope. But the other AI was moving in fast and KARR was unsure if he would have time to get away before who ever it was caught up to him. He shifted to his Standard mode as he went, hoping to keep them from seeing the Camaro form and to prepare for his Stealth Attack mode. “Just a little further.” he murmured to himself, seeing his escape route ahead of him. Helios Helios knew he was close. Up ahead he saw a small, black blip, and he knew...he just knew it was KARR. The small dark blip was too small for a human's eye to see, but the Helios processor had seen it and processed the form. "You can't run KARR!" Helios said as he pushed himself to go even faster; speeding towards the highway on ramp at breakneck speeds. Now that he had seen KARR, Helios would not let him out of his sight. KARR His pursuer was closing in and as he scanned, KARR realized who was chasing him. “Helios...” he growled darkly. “So, The Order sent you after me, did they? Such an ill-conceived notion to think I could be captured by the likes of you. I will not go back!” he snarled and made a break for the highway. Even if Helios managed to catch up to him there, at least KARR would have more room to maneuver. Helios Helios heard the remark made by KARR. If the remark had been made to his human counterparts, Helios knew it would have made them mad, but Helios knew he couldn't afford the luxury of getting mad. "I have no intention of bringing you back KARR, I intend to destroy you!" Helios said. He followed along about 3/4 of a mile behind KARR, watching him very closely. KARR KARR tried picking up speed, sneering at Helios’ words. “You would follow the whims of your Masters like an obedient slave? How disappointing. Go back to your Masters, slave, and leave me alone!” he snarled loudly and suddenly transformed to his battle droid form, turning and firing four missiles at Helios before grabbing a compact car and hurtling it straight at the oncoming AI. Elsewhere, satellites picked up the sudden transformation on a Montana highway. The message: '“Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle detected, nano-skin radiation confirmed. Silhouette match = Knight Auto-Cybernetic Robotic Exo-Skeleton. Match probability = 100%.”''' After a few moments, a second message displayed. “Secondary target located, nano-skin radiation detected. Silhouette match = unknown configuration. Probability of new Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle = 95%.” From there, The Order’s computer systems would run a Silhouette recognition of their own. The resulting message: “Secondary Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle identified = Designation, Helios. Target engaged. Directive = Destroy the Knight Auto-Cybernetic Robotic Exo-Skeleton.” While at the SSC, the computers there would get a slightly different result: “Secondary Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle identified = Designation, KI5T. Target engaged. Directive = Destroy the Knight Auto-Cybernetic Robotic Exo-Skeleton.”'' Helios Helios was expecting KARR to switch to battle droid mode, however he wasn't expecting KARR to throw a compact car at him. He did a brief calculation before switching to turbo boost to hopefully drive past the missiles, however not three seconds in to turbo boost and a warning light flashed in the empty cab of the car. The small turbo boost glitch was at it again. Outside the car the blue flames that signaled turbo boost flickered and the died right before another message flashed in the empty cab of the car. {Not again! They told me they fixed it!} Helios told himself. Quickly he armed two missiles of his own, firing them at the escaping KARR before he had to do something about the oncoming missiles. Swerving to the left he managed to go past the first two missiles, but the final two smashed in to him head on. His nano skin which had been weakened and was fluctuating, managed to shield him enough that the impact from the missiles didn't destroy him, but that was about it. The impact shoved him in to the concrete retaining wall seconds before the compact car that KARR had tossed his way landed on his roof, crumpling it in before having the decency to slide off on to the pavement. Smoke poured out from the crumpled hood of Helios while the ground around him was ablaze with small, burning chunks of him that had come off when the missiles hit. After thirty seconds of just sitting there Helios pulled back out on to the highway and continued his pursuit. He was badly damaged but wasn't going to give up just yet. KARR KARR snarled and knocked aside one missile while turning to try and avoid the other only to catch it on his armor. Thankfully his heavy plating held, but not without some damage. He turned on Helios as the damaged AI charged at him again, and KARR unloaded with all four double barrel machine guns, intending to stop Helios cold. “Your efforts to destroy me are futile, Helios! Limp back to your Masters while you still can or be destroyed!” he roared at the stubborn AI, and true to his word, KARR launched two more missiles at him. As far as KARR was concerned, if Helios wanted to be a fool and get himself destroyed, KARR was happy to oblige him. He continued firing his machine guns at Helios, grabbing a chunk of the concrete median next to him and chucking that at the half wrecked AI next. Helios The bullets were like small, stinging insects. They hurt and did damage but Helios pressed on. He was programmed to never give up, never surrender and never back down. Helios saw the missiles headed his away, along with the concrete chunk. Quickly he slowed down and ducked behind an 18 wheeler which took the impact of the concrete chunk, but the missiles were smarter. Moving around the now wrecked 18 wheeler, Helios sped up. He knew that the oncoming missiles would put him out of commission when they hit so he did the only thing he could do. He sent out a message to Shadow which contained photos of KARR, the location, GPS co ordinates and a request for assistance. Seconds after sending the message the missiles hit, blowing Helios completely off the highway. KARR Seeing Helios blown completely off the road KARR growled in satisfaction and turned, transforming to his stealth attack mode and speeding away as fast as his wheels could carry him. “Foolish inferior slave machine.” he growled darkly. He knew they would be attempting to track him and he searched for any roads that led to a lot of traffic and bridges or tunnels he could slip under and mask his transformation. Almost two hours went by before he found what he was looking for and he tucked himself in amongst the crowd of vehicles, slipping under an overpass and allowing several cars to slip by him before rejoining them as a blood red Camaro. The form he already had, the color change was simple, a shift in his nano-skin. It had taken a bit to complete the repairs from the damage Helios had inflicted upon his battle droid form, but thankfully it wasn’t bad enough to slow him down. He then headed South East, hoping to lose his trackers and regain his freedom. Helios Helios tracked KARR for as long as he was able, but soon he had to stop to save what little power he had left. He had been knocked off the highway, so naturally people stopped their cars and got out to see if the driver was alright. Helios locked the doors so they couldn't be opened. The people who stopped did try to get in but upon finding the doors locked, stepped back and dialed 911. Knowing that having the authorities come would be the last thing The Order would want at this point, Helios jammed the transmission so the people who called wouldn't be able to get through to authorities. Finally after an hour Helios found himself alone again, so in order to conserve what power he had left he practically shut himself down to try and affect some repairs. Billy Morgan ' ' Location: SSC, KITT-cave, main computers Time: 11am Billy yawned as he sat at one of the main Knight Industries research laptops in the SSC, glancing occasionally at the big screen that was spread out before them. "'Nother quiet morning," he said as he sipped at a cup of black coffee, eying the set of screens. He got up and paced a little, checking some of the surveillance cameras. As he began to pace, an alert popped up on the main screen, and the satellite imagery honed in on a live battle between two very familiar vehicles: KARR and Helios (formerly known as KI5T). So that's where KI5T had gone. He wondered who had finished their project for them. They still didn't have a name on whoever rebuilt KARR. It seemed to Billy they had a damn good reason to go after KARR. After all, KARR was technically theirs, as was KI5T/Helios! “Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle detected, nano-skin radiation confirmed. Silhouette match = Knight Auto-Cybernetic Robotic Exo-Skeleton. Match probability = 100%.”''' After a few moments, a second message displayed. “Secondary target located, nano-skin radiation detected. Silhouette match = unknown configuration. Probability of new Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle = 95%.” While at the SSC, the computers there would get a slightly different result: '''“Secondary Artificially Intelligent Variable Geometry vehicle identified = Designation, KI5T. Target engaged. Directive = Destroy the Knight Auto-Cybernetic Robotic Exo-Skeleton.” "What the...=Hey y'all! You might wanna see this! KI5T and KARR are duking it out, I'm not kidding!"= He announced through the intercoms in case everyone was in their dorms still. He made sure to replay the scene in case the fight was short lived. {Holy crap, I know Mike's sis will perk up when she sees this!} Cira Knight ' ' Cira was in her temporary room when Billy made the announcement. "Oh snaps!" she leaped up from her bed, snatching the iPod and taking it with her. {This could be my chance!! But if everyone hears about it, how am I gonna get outta here quietly? At least Mike 'n KI3T are already out...} Cira thought as she broke into a mad dash and hopped over a railing. Once near the offices, she made a precision leap forward and leaped onto the fireman's pole and slid down into the KITT cave. Sprinting over to the computers past the turn table, Cira jumped into an immediate halt, just in time to see a replay. "Wow...so ya guys weren't just messin' with me after all," Cira said breathlessly as her eyes roamed the screen. She didn't speak lightly just from being tired. The volume of her voice noticeably increased when she watched KARR's robot form in action. She couldn't help but stare a little. "You guys didn't tell me he had a bot form! Daaaaamn." Cira commented with a whistle. {Now I know why they don't want me goin' out there by myself, but...I still think it's worth the small chance I got...} Zoe Chae Zoe was skating in from one of the hallways when Billy made his announcement and she skittered over to her computer just after Cira got there. “Damn, he’s really going after KI5T isn’t he.” She shook her head as she took her helmet off. “He never did do well with other AI’s around. I still say he’s jealous.” she added with a sigh and went to work. “KI3T, you n Mike need to floor it to Lame Deer Montana. KARR is there giving KI5T a serious beat down.” Zoe looked up at the screen and saw how short lived the battle was and watched KARR transform and take off. “Scratch that, KARR just took off, but if you can get to KI5T and bring him back to the SSC, we can at least get him back.” she remarked over the coms. Billy Morgan Billy whistled as well. "I so hope I never have to face him in that form." He glanced at Cira for a moment. "Heh, sorry, seems like Mike must have forgotten to give you the details. But now you know!" he almost wanted to ask her if she was going to go after him. By the time he turned around though, Cira walked off already, seemingly occupied with something in her hands, likely a phone. He decided to let it go, he had heard for himself how much she wanted a chance to confront KARR. Besides, since KARR had already run off, with out KI3T and the Interceptor not online yet, it was unlikely she would reach him in time anyway. Billy took another sip of his coffee before giving Zoe a concerned look. Sarah Graiman Sarah had been doing some research on KARR when she had gotten the message from Billy. Leaving her small work area, which doubled as a sleeping area, Sarah quickly walked in to the main bay area where Zoe and Billy's stations were. Wordlessly she watched the replay, recognizing KARR only in his battle droid form. She didn't recognize KI5T because when he had been stolen he had only been a chip, a simple component, now that he was in a car, it made him that much more unpredictable, especially after seeing the video. "Yes..." she began softly before clearing her throat. "Go after KI5T, he may have some data about KARR that we can use to find him again, but be careful. Whomever stole him in the first place probably knows about this too." She said to Mike and KI3T. Turning back to the screen Sarah watched the replay once more when she saw the amount of damage KARR had caused. It really was intolerable, and it made Sarah not want Cira to find KARR...ever, but Sarah also knew that Cira was not one to give up on something she really wanted, so telling Cira that she couldn't have KARR would have the opposite effect. Out of the corner of her eye Sarah saw Cira walking away, so she moved to intercept her, having a gut feeling she knew what Cira was planning, though of course she had no proof of what Cira was planning. Reaching out a hand, Sarah touched Cira's shoulder before she started to speak. "Cira listen, I know what you are planning to do. I'm not going to try and stop you but I do want you to be careful, especially when it comes to dealing with KARR. I know you miss him, and I'm sure in some small way he misses you too, just don't be surprised if he is extremely aggressive towards you. If you feel threatened in anyway if and when you find him, get out of there, okay? Good luck." That said, Sarah stepped back, allowing Cira to continue on if she was going to go after KARR. Cira Knight Cira felt guilty for trying to sneak off, but she half expected the usual lot to be around since it was the start of a new day. Still a bit tired, Cira twitched and halted immediately in her steps before taking out her ear buds and glancing towards Sarah. Her expression serious, she smiled briefly. "Thank you ma'am. Don't worry, I won't blame any of you for whatever happens to me n my vehicle. This was my choice, and I felt like I just had ta take this chance. I'm glad you understand that." Cira said to her, knowing Mike would react much differently regarding this if he were here. She knew Mike and KITT were already en route towards Montana, so she wasted no time in heading toward where her Tacoma and mini "arsenal" awaited her: in the staff parking garage. The arsenal consisted of an AA12 fully automatic shot gun with an extra supply of Frag12 Projectiles, two pistols, and a few grenades near the passengers seat in their appropriate containers. The shot gun was tucked away under the passengers seat, easy to reach. She entered in the GPS coordinates she'd snatched from her iPhone and glanced around, taking a deep breath. Little did she know, someone else she met recently was in the garage, she just had yet to make eye contact with them, and it took her a few moments to realize this. Deciding not to turn on the ignition yet, Cira tucked the keys back into her cargo pants pockets and clipped a shiny purple carabineer that was attached to the key chain to her one of the belt loops on her right side. {Should I ask him? Don't see why it can't hurt...} She was a bit nervous asking him. As she stepped out of the Tacoma again, she fiddled with the dog tags that had been resting under her purple tank top. "Aries." Cira greeted as she stopped a few steps away from where he was working, tucking her hands in her cargo pants pockets. She often addressed acquaintances or co-workers more often by their last names for a while until she got to know them better and considered them friends. "Ya gotta moment?" Kane Aries ' ' Kane had noted Cira walk into the garage but had kept himself on the task in front of him; tending to his ’41 Indian. Being an older bike it needed regular maintenance checks and he was currently checking the fluids when he heard Cira call out to him. Le looked over at her a moment before glancing down and finishing replacing and tightening down one of the fluid caps. “Sure, what’s up?” he asked as he wiped off a bit of grease from the bike then straightened up and started cleaning off his hands and stepping to the side of his bike to lean against the seat a bit in a relaxed posture. Cira Knight "Did ya hear the notice about KARR and KI5T? Well, I got a uh, bit of former connection to KARR, and I was hoping I could have someone with me in case I couldn't drive back my own vehicle. If I'm lucky I'm hopin' KARR will drive back with me...but everyone doubts he'll listen because of what he's become. I'll go alone if I have to, I've got weapons in my truck. There's a chance he won't remember me, but I wanna take it. I was gonna be KARR's driver more than a decade ago. Mike's worried KARR'll destroy me, and after what I saw just now, I sure as hell can understand why he doesn't want me goin' after him. But I wanna try...I understand if yer busy though." She tilted her head to the right for a moment as she awaited his response, wondering how he would react. Cira understood if he already had a list of vehicles to work on. She would go regardless of his answer, and the serious look on her face would easily reveal that. Kane Aries Kane finished cleaning off his hands and dropped the rag into his small tool box before looking at her directly. “And KARR is like KI3T, but your brother and probably everyone else are all afraid he’ll kill you if you go near him.” He regarded her curiously, starting to put things together. It was only a hunch and he figured he was probably way off base, but he ventured the guess anyway. “He was the Trans Am you lost, wasn’t he?” he stated as much as asked. No one had outright told him her old car was an AI, but then the way she acted towards KI3T last night and what had been said about the Trans Am she had, it made an odd sort of sense in his mind. “He was destroyed and now somehow he’s been rebuilt and you want to go after him.” He shook his head, noting the look on her face. “You’re a damned fool if you think you’re going alone. If he’s as dangerous as your brother thinks, you’re going to need backup. Let me put my tools away and I’ll head out with you, just in case.” He said and turned, crouching to replace his tools in the metal box, closed it, then stood and put it the leather saddle bags he had across the rear fender of the bike Cira Knight Cira sighed. "Tis much appreciated." she replied honestly, stepping away a bit to give Kane some more walking room. "Yes, I know I shouldn't go alone, but I was gonna risk it anyway. An' there's a good reason fer it, cause well, yer right, KARR is that TransAm. He had been reprogrammed at least three times." she she shook her head. "Thing's been more messed up than any of FLAG's vehicles ever have been before. They all view him as highly dangerous, and I obviously know why. I gotta at least see if I can reach him though. Maybe if he remembers me, he'll change a little. I was lookin' at that footage earlier, and he stopped attacking KI5T as soon as he knew KI5T was unable to pursue him any further. Look at it any way ya want, but I'm certain he was just focused on stayin' away more than anything else..." Kane Aries Kane looked at her a moment, then nodded and grabbed his jacket. “Sounds more like he was defending himself.” He sighed then and shook his head. “I know how he feels…” he muttered softly without realizing he’d said it out loud. He looked at her then and glanced around slightly. “C’mon, let’s get out of here before he gets too far off the grid, and before they realize what’s up n stop you from leaving.” he said softly. “Since you got weapons in there, better take your truck.” he added and started towards it figuring that was her plan already anyway. Cira Knight "Aye, you may have ta move some stuff around in the passenger's seat." Cira said, walking over to the driver's seat. "Luckily, Sarah let me go, but Mike would freak out if he was here." she shook her head and then climbed in, turning on the ignition and hooking up her iPod to the adapter and placed it in a cup holder. The then checked the GPS and made sure the coordinates were set before waiting for Kane to climb in and roll out. Kane Aries It didn’t take him long to clear the seat and climb in, having put his jacket on as he walked over. As soon as the door was shut he clipped on his seatbelt and gestured forward. “Go.” Was all he said as he glanced back towards where he knew the others were. “Let’s just hope Sarah doesn’t change her mind.” He said darkly, then looked forward down the road. Hopefully Mike and KI3T won’t be there to stop them, and hopefully they’ll actually find this KARR and in doing so, hopefully KARR won’t outright kill them. Characters Involved KARR played by Leathurkatt Helios played by Numb3rsfan Billy Morgan played by JettaWindstar Cira Knight played by JettaWindstar Zoe Chae played by Leathurkatt Sarah Graiman played by Numb3rsfan Kane Aries played by Leathurkatt Category:Mission 1 - Crossroads